


The Beginning

by orphan_account



Series: I Tell My Story [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Gen, because what's originality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 09:29:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9117784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Aaron Brooks remembers himself.





	

**Author's Note:**

> huge, huge, huge thanks to my friends for pushing me to finally write something.  
> this will be part of a series that'll be pretty spastically updated, but i'll try my best to keep some semblance of a schedule.  
> this first part revolves entirely around burr, but the next few parts will introduce alex and his whole gang as well as james and thomas, so bear with me.  
> this was a lot of fun to write, so i hope y'all enjoy it.  
> note: the number keys on my laptop are broken, so if i seem unenthusiastic in the notes it's because i have to practically bash the number keys with my phone to get them to work. this makes using exclamation marks an absolute pain in the ass, so apologies for that.

When Aaron Brooks had his first flashback, he’d thought that the stress of college life had finally got to him - he’d gone insane.

One minute he’s studying in the library, the next, he’s standing in the middle of a field, a pistol in his hand. He can’t move, has to watch as he stands in front of a man with hair graying at the roots, freckles spattered across his face. The world jumps, and the next moment he’s whirling around (when had he turned?) and he’s firing without even aiming and he watches in horror as Hamilton’s hand falls from where it had been aiming - the sky, the sky, he was aiming at the sky - as his body crumples to the ground. Aaron steps forward, takes another step, but there’s a hand on his chest, pulling him away from Hamilton, and no, he has to tell him, tell him everything; that he never truly hated him, that he was sorry, he’s sorry, I’m sorry. Hamilton meets his eyes and Aaron feels sick to his stomach, chokes on a sob though his eyes are dry, and he’s-

-in the library, clutching his textbook too hard, tears stinging his eyes. The librarian is staring at him out the corner of her eye, and Aaron shoved his books in his bag and hightailed it out of there.

When he got back to his dorm, he was relieved to find himself alone, his roommate out doing God knows what. Aaron collapsed on his bed, his breath leaving him all at once and he almost lets himself cry for the first time in years.

.

Later, he researched hallucinations and found nothing similar to what he had experienced - until he comes across a forum talking of reincarnates; people who harbor another person’s memories, experiences, personality. Aaron balked at the idea, shutting his laptop down and throwing it on his bed before seating himself cross-legged on the floor. He ran a hand over his head, leaning back to that he can spread himself out.

Aaron lay there for a while, toying with the possibility of himself being a reincarnate before discarding the idea. There was no way - he was just your normal, run of the mill guy. Not a reincarnate.

He remembered being younger, his mother telling him that he was special - original, she’d said. Aaron had to close his eyes at the thought of his mother, of her face.

He sighs before getting up from his desk, throwing a coat on. Aaron opens the door to his apartment, stepping out into the frigid air. He sees Hamilton down the street, playing with his son and daughter in the snow. He smiles; for how abrasive and annoying Alexander could be in court, he was a pretty good-

Aaron gasped as the door to his dorm is slammed open, someone walking in. He sat up, eyes wide as he looked out the window.

It was spring, there was no snow anywhere, he wasn’t in an apartment, he didn’t even have a real desk, save for the small piece of shit pushed under his bed.

“Hey man, you alright?” Theodosia Barnes, his best friend since high school, set her purse down on the small, ratty couch that sat in the corner of the room.

Aaron let out a breath. “Yeah. Yeah, just- nightmares.”

He can hear the frown in Theo’s voice as she walked towards him. “Aw, B, I’m sorry.” Her hand comes to rest on his shoulder and he tensed as he-

-stares down at Theodosia, tears in her eyes as she takes his hand in her own, gripping weakly.

“Aaron.” Her voice is barely a whisper, and he has to lean down to hear her through her own labored breathing. “Aaron, I need you to watch over her. Don’t abandon our daughter.”

He chokes on a sob. “Never, never.” He brings her hand up to cup his cheek, pressing a kiss into her palm.

She leans back, a smile on her face. “I love you, Aaron Burr.”

This time, Aaron lets the sob escape. “I love you, Theodosia Burr.”

A chuckle, more of a wheeze, leaves her as she closes her eyes.

Aaron hiccuped, tears streaming down his cheeks as Theo knelt in front of him, her eyes wide. “Aaron? Aaron, are you with me? Can you hear me?”

Aaron took a shaky breath before nodding, closing his eyes. Theo sighed, pulling Aaron into a hug. “My God, B, don’t scare me like that.”

He shook his head. “S-Sorry,” he gasped out between breaths.

He could feel Theo rocking him back and forth, tracing swirls on his back. “It’s okay, B. What’s going on? You haven’t cried like this since,” she paused, the hand on his back slowing before she squeezed him, repeating “since.” and leaving it at that.

Aaron swallowed, opening his eyes. “I don’t know. God, I don’t know, Theo.”

Theo nodded. “Okay, that’s okay. Can I ask what happened?” Aaron let out a breath, hiccuping again.

“Can I...have some time?”  


“Of course. I’m gonna head over to the girls’ dorm, alright? Text me if you need anything.”

Aaron nodded. “Okay.”

Theo smiled and nodded, too. “Okay,” she echoes.

She stood, grabbing her purse and sending Aaron one last look over her shoulder before leaving, closing the door softly.

Aaron stood slowly, his legs feeling wobbly, and turned, pushing his laptop out of the way just in time to collapse on his bed. His head is pounding, and he replayed these newfound- memories? Hallucinations?

Aaron slowly turned over, pulling his laptop into his lap. He propped it open only to quickly turn the brightness down, squinting. He opened a new tab, searching up the name _Aaron Burr_. He thought back to reincarnates, and the sharing of their first names, and scoffed to himself.

As the results popped up, he took a deep breath. Unsure where to start, he clicked the first link he saw, a Wikipedia page.

He’s reading through, chewing at his lip, a habit he really needs to break. He sighs, standing from his desk to retire for the night - when had it gotten so late? - when he hears a knock at the door. Checking the time, he frowns. Who in their right mind would be up and knocking at this hour?

As the knocking continues, Aaron sighs. Whoever it was wasn’t leaving anytime soon. He turns, striding through his halls before arriving at the front door. He swings it open, ready to yell at the dastard who was disrupting his night-

“Alexander?”

Hamilton stands before him, his lean frame wrapped in a coat. He sends a small smile Aaron’s way. “Mister Burr, sir.”

“It’s the middle of the night, Hamilton!”

Alexander huffs. “Yes, I realized. I came to ask," he paused, "can we confer, sir?”

Aaron furrows his brow. “Is this a legal matter?”

“Yes, and it's-”

Aaron gasped, his grip on his laptop hard enough to make his knuckles go white. He gulped, leaning back and shutting his eyes. However, a few seconds later he blinked them open again, remembering the images from this morning. He began scrolling quickly down the page, eyes skimming over the words. He came to a stop as his eyes caught on a headline in bold.

_**“Duel with Alexander Hamilton.”** _

Aaron felt a chill creep down his back as he begins reading the article. Everything matched up with what he had seen.

Had _remembered._

Aaron let out a breath, slowly shutting his laptop. There was no other explanation. He was not only Aaron Brooks.

He was Aaron Burr, esteemed prodigy of Princeton College, famous lawyer, and Alexander Hamilton's murderer.

Burr had a feeling he wasn't going to get much sleep that night.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as i did writing it - i'll admit i'm a little rusty. if you see any errors, please let me know!  
> thanks for reading~


End file.
